The Nation’s Chris Hayes links to this New Yorker article on China’s attempts at clean energy and observes:
Uncomfortable thought: If China were to become democratic, its climate policy would get much worse.
Ah yes, I believe in liberal circles this is known as the Tom Friedman paradox, after the New York Times columnist who back in September noted that the oppressive communist autocracy “when it is led by a reasonably enlightened group of people, as China is today … can also have great advantages.” It’s just too gosh darn bad that grand liberal social engineering projects — such as combatting global warming through heavy-handed regulation of the global economy — so often involve crushing human freedom.
But at least Hayes says this makes him uncomfortable.
UPDATE — Ed Driscoll has the transcript of this recent Tom Friedman appearence on CNN, discussing global warming:
And, by the way, Wolf, you know who’s not debating this nonsense at all? China. China’s not debating this at all. They know their glaciers are melting. They know something’s happening. And you know what they’re trying to do? They’re trying to clean our clock in solar, wind, [unintelligible], because they know it’s happening. They’re not caught up in this idiot debate, and that’s where we should be.
Boy, democracy is so inconvienent isn’t it?
